Minister: Norway will give away the corona vaccines it doesn’t need to countries that need them

Norway could get access to three times more vaccines than it needs if all the vaccines it negotiated through the EU are approved, according to Health Minister Bent Høie (H).

“If all the vaccines that the EU has an agreement on are approved, Norway will have access to three times more vaccines than we need,” the Minister of Health said in the Norwegian parliament (Storting) on Monday, commenting on the vaccination progress in the country.

“Vaccines that we do not need for ourselves will be given to other countries that need the vaccines. We plan to do this in cooperation with other European countries,” he said.

The Minister clarified that Norway would be able to receive at least 3.4 million vaccine doses from Pfizer-BioNTech, 1.89 million vaccine doses from Moderna, and over 3.3 million vaccine doses from AstraZeneca.

EU agreements

The first two vaccines are approved for use in Norway, while the last is expected to be approved in the EU and Norway at the end of January.

In addition, Norway will be able to receive large volumes of vaccines from the EU’s agreements with Curevac, Sanofi-GSK, Novavax, and Valneva, should these vaccines be approved. 

The EU has entered into binding supply agreements with five manufacturers, an option agreement with a sixth, and letters of intent with two more companies.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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